US 5,226,157 A · Backup control method and system in data processing system using identifiers for controlling block data transfer

Abstract

In a data processing system having a first external memory, a second external memory, and a control memory for storing information on data renewals in the first external memory, a system and a method provide for back-up operations in parallel with ordinary data processing, including dump processing in which renewed data parts in the first external memory are copied as backup data into the second external memory with reference to the contents of the control memory. The method provides the step of storing into the control memory first identifier information for identifying areas of the first external memory where data items were renewed; the step of storing into the control memory second identifier information for identifying areas of the first external memory where data items were renewed during the dump processing; and the step of erasing at completion of the dump processing the first identifier information items except those which identify the same areas as identified by the second identifier information items. Thus, ordinary job processing and the renewals of the data items of the first external memory can be performed even in the course of the data dumping processing.

Claims14

Dependent claims

A backup control system in a data processing system, comprising:

(a) at least one first memory which stores data therein;
(b) at least one host device which performs data processing on data stored in said first memory to renew said data stored in said first memory, resulting in renewed data items as a consequence of said data processing;
(c) at least one second memory in which said data stored in said first memory are stored as backup data;
(d) a control memory which stores therein control information for managing renewal of the data in said first memory in units of a certain data block;
(e) control means for storing first identifier information and second identifier information into said control memory as said control information for specified data blocks, the first identifier information indicating that a data renewal was performed on a specified data block in said first memory by said host device, the second identifier information indicating that the specified data block in said first memory was renewed during a period of time in which data from said first memory was copied into said second memory;
and
(f) means for clearing the first identifier information for specified data blocks from said control memory depending on the existence of second identifier information for those specified data blocks when the copying of the data from said first memory into said second memory has ended.

4 more elements

In a data processing system having a first memory and a second memory which store data, a dump control method wherein data in the first memory are copied into the second memory as backup data without stopping data processing, comprising:

(a) a first step of performing data processing on the data in said first memory and storing renewed data as a consequence of the data processing into said first memory, regardless of data copying from said first memory into said second memory;
(b) a second step of storing first identifier information for managing renewal of the data in said first memory in units of a predetermined block into a control memory, the first identifier information indicating that a data renewal has been performed on a specified block in said first memory;
(c) a third step of copying the renewed data in said first memory into said second memory in accordance with the first identifier information;
(d) a fourth step of storing second identifier information for managing renewal of the data in said first memory into said control memory during a period of time in which said third step is performed, the second identifier information indicating that a data renewal has been performed on a specified block in said first memory during the period of time in which said third step is performed;
and
(e) a fifth step of controlling resetting of the first identifier information in said control memory in accordance with the second identifier information at the end of said fourth step so that the first identifier information for specified data blocks renewed during the period of time in which said third step is performed is held in a non-dumped state.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Backup control method and system in data processing system using identifiers for controlling block data transfer

Life of this patent

Backup control method and system in data processing system using identifiers for controlling block data transfer

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims14